Time in a Bottle
by MidnightDawn999
Summary: Obi-Wan has his first temporary assignment with the 212st at the beginning of the Clone Wars. (Rated K for slight violence and non-graphic injuries. Co-written with RubbleStrength.)
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Obi-Wan has a temporary assignment with the 212st at the beginning of the Clone Wars.**

 **A/N: This comes out to around... Five chapters. I should be able to post one every day, unless something happens that keeps me from my computer. Please enjoy, and any feedback is appreciated - as people have said, 'reviews are love', and are very much lov*ed*!**

Wind howled, slamming against the sides of the gunship. The ground below looked orange as far as the eye could see; white and soft browns mingling over the planet's surface. Ten men were packed inside of the back, waiting as the pilot lowered the ship. The mission was supposed to be a fairly simple one, stop Separatists from setting up a base. There was already an outpost. Several clones and their General, Obi-Wan Kenobi had been sent to take it over.

Obi-Wan stood at the far end of the gunship, repeating their orders loud enough for all the men to hear. "When we reach the landing zone, the pilot will take the gunship, and wait for our signal back on Vigilance. We will cross the ten miles from the landing zone to the outpost, and take it back. Intel says the Separatist presence is minimal. Only a few droids have been left to watch over the base. Any questions?" Obi-Wan asked? It was his first mission with the 212th - 7th Sky Corps - and their first mission out as a group; first real mission.

No one raised any concerns, or disagreements. Commander Cody, who stood beside the General, glanced out through the now-open door on the side. They would reach the landing zone in moments.

"Pilot, we're right above it! Take us down," Obi-Wan called.

"Yes-sir." The response came over the comms, and the gunship lowered. The loud thrum of the engines was almost deafening, and comforting at the same time.

Obi-Wan waited, one hand on a bar above his head, the other hanging loosely at his side. The doors of the gunship opened, and the ground came closer and closer every second. Sand blasted up to meet them, unsettled by the ship's powerful engines as it neared the landing zone.

Then it came to a rather abrupt halt. "Go, go!" Cody shouted, and they began to jump out two-at-a-time until Cody and Obi-Wan were the only two left in the craft.

Obi-Wan gave a wry smile, and he hopped out, gracefully landing and straightening up to look around. There was nothing... nothing but white sand dunes for miles and miles around.

All around him, the clones were looking around, staring at the ground, and the hills. Obi-Wan pondered the strange behavior, but didn't ask.

Cody stared towards the hills in interest. Ever since the Clone Wars had begun mere months ago, he had been sent on quite a few missions with the 7th Sky Corps - but had yet to be sent to a planet like this. A planet of sand. "Get to walking!" he called, and strode forward himself. He sank slowly with every step, the red ground soft underfoot. He had never seen anything like it.

Obi-Wan's expression turned to curiosity, as even his commander walked forward as though star-struck. Obi-Wan strode along beside him as the other men all moved out. Turning back, Obi-Wan waved to the pilot, who gave him a curt nod and took off. The gunship lifted away from the ground, blowing sand over the group.

Cody watched as it swirled in the air, blasted away from the metal ship. He looked forward once again. All clones ever saw until they were deployed from Kamino was water, an ocean, rain and the white cities.

"Tell me, Cody..." Obi-wan lowered his voice, as though he was about to say something very secretive. "What do you see that I'm not seeing? What do they see?" The Jedi was puzzled.

"It's the sand, sir." Even as he spoke, his voice seemed different.

"The... sand?" Obi-Wan looked down at it. It was crystalline, white, and rather gritty... like all sand seemed to be. All right, so white sand was more unique than brown, but Obi-Wan saw nothing in it.

"You never know there is another beautiful thing until you see it."

Obi-Wan stopped in his tracks a moment. He looked around and smiled softly. "True." Obi-Wan was used to it. He'd forgotten the beauty of sand, in favor of just getting through it. But the clones hadn't seen it before... Besides Kamino, they'd only been a handful of places, and none of them had any sand. So to them, it was all knew. Obi-Wan chided himself for not thinking of that before.

Cody nodded. Ahead of them, one of the troopers bent down and picked up a handful of the sand, watching it running through his fingers. One of his brothers cracked a mocking joke and gave him a shove before heading forward again, but still both men looked at the ground in interest.

Obi-Wan made a mental note of this, and - when no one was looking - he knelt, pulled a small glass from his robe, and filled it with sand. Who knows, he thought to himself, it may come in handy. Standing, Obi-Wan headed forward. "It's only a few miles away, and we should make it there within a short time." All right, it was more than a few miles, but the men would be able to make it an easy and quick trip.


	2. Chapter 2

The miles had come and gone, the grassless lands stretching on without an end in sight. But they had finally arrived. Commander Cody could see the outpost - it's grey walls stood out against the colorful sand, stark In the dullest of ways.

"Well, it seems our intel was correct." Obi-Wan could see several droids skirting the perimeter, but it was an easily manageable number. Then again, he had no way of knowing how many were inside the building.

"How do you want to do this, sir?"

Obi-Wan smirked slightly. "Actually Commander, I'm giving you lead on this. How do you want to do it?" Obi-Wan asked. The Jedi knew that Cody and the others were new... they didn't have a lot of experience; but he trusted that Cody was easily capable of coming up with a perfectly executable plan, and following it through.

Cody gave a nod. "We'll separate into two groups of five and approach the outpost from opposite sides, and take out the clankers patrolling. Once inside, we all stay together. We'll take this post as quietly as we can; no one inside can be allowed to alert the Seppies." The Commander spoke strongly, easily hiding his concern - in the months of the war, he hadn't been given point by a Jedi before.

Obi-Wan nodded sharply. "Very well." He glanced back over his shoulder, looking at the steadily sinking sun. "We should get moving."

"Yes, sir." Cody gestured towards the other clones. They split into two groups of five, as he had ordered. "Go to the other side and meet us at the entrance when you're done."  
"Sir, yes sir!"

Obi-Wan started forward, walking beside Cody as the other group headed off the other way to circle the building. "Good plan." Obi-Wan stated his approval.

"Thank you, General."

Obi-Wan's only response was a smile. He continued forward, glancing back only once. The four clones walked along at an easy pace, though Obi-Wan calculated they'd already walked nearly ten miles. Looking forward again, Obi-wan wondered if they would reach the outpost without being seen.

The building loomed over the sand, dark and towering over the endless sand around it. He didn't like the odds, but there was no other way. The best way was to get there quickly and take out the droids, just as Cody had said.

From where they were, Cody could count about six battle droids. There was a good chance there were more, and the ones on the other side; plus whatever was in the building. He frowned. "Where did the intel come from, sir?" his voice was lowered.

"A Jedi informant. Truthfully, I don't know who. Master Windu trusts the source. Why?" Obi-Wan asked, keeping his own voice quiet, though they were still a ways out from the building.

"Do we know what they were going to use the outpost for?"

"The Separatists?" Obi-Wan continued without waiting for a response. "A listening post. We believe they were attempting to decipher our codes here."

Cody nodded distantly. "It seems like the intel is good so far, then..."

"It would seem that way. But we should be prepared if things go sideways." Obi-Wan grimaced. Things tended to go badly quite often in this war... more than he was willing to count, or admit.

"Yes, sir."

They neared the building, moving quickly and quietly, and staying by the taller sand dunes to avoid detection. They were close enough to hear the battle droids talking to each other. Obi-Wan glanced over their cover, and recounted the droids. There were still only six on this side.

"Most of the men have DCs; which have the range of around 9 or 10 kilometers. They could take out several, if not most of the droids before our position would be discovered."

Obi-Wan nodded, waving two fingers toward the droids and moving out of the way. Why get closer than they had to, if they could take them out from a distance?

The other three men came forward, laying on the ground and aiming at the clankers. Cody took his blaster from the holster, waiting as the other clones took aim. The DCs fired, one shot and one 'kill' each. The droids sparked and collapsed to the ground in pieces, the shots fired only seconds from each other.

After only moments, Obi-Wan peered over the sand, greeted by the sight of six "dead" droids. He smirked. "Good shots." He straightened and moved forward, down the dune and toward the building. So far, so good.

Cody followed after him. Things were going well so far.

Obi-Wan picked up the pace, running the last few yards to the building and taking cover behind several crates. Looking around them, he searched for any more droids close by. There were none he could see.

Cody hit his wrist comm, "Tye, report."

"There were five Clankers here, Commander."

"All right. Meet us at the door."

"Yes, sir."

Obi-Wan nodded silently and moved around the crates, heading toward the corner of the building. He held his light-saber, prepared for a fight, should there be any more droids. There was one droid on sentry duty in front of the building... But it didn't last long. A blaster bolt caught it in the head, sending it crumpling to the ground in a smoking heap.

Five clones moved in direct order from the opposite side, waving Obi-Wan over. The Jedi signaled his men, and they moved to meet the others at the front door.

 **A/N: Thank you all for following, favoriting, and reviewing!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you all, sorry for posting late! I guess it isn't *too* late, but that's not my point...**

One of the men stood by the door's console, attempting to reroute power to the door without alerting anyone who may be still inside the building. The power had been turned off, efficiently locking the door to anyone and everything outside. But blasting through the door would alert them for sure; and they were trying to avoid giving anyone a chance to send out a distress signal.

"Wait... Wait... Got it." The door jarred into motion as the clone - Highjack - let out his exclamation.

"Good job." Cody gave a brisk nod.

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement, then advanced before his men. He drew his light-saber, but didn't ignite it, simply keeping it ready in case they met with resistance. The Jedi stalked forward, eyes sweeping the hall. It stretched on for some way before breaking off in two different directions. They would need to cover both ways at once. Obi-Wan turned, pointing two fingers one way, and then the other, signaling his men that when they reached the fork in the hall, they would split up.

Cody walked by the Jedi's side, listening for any sound other than them. There hadn't been any droids guarding the inside of the door, which seemed... uncharacteristic, for a Separatist outpost.

Obi-Wan strode forward, listening intently for the familiar metal clinking of droids. So far, there was nothing. He frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this," he stated, turning slightly so he could look at Cody. He knew his commander already felt the tense energy all around them.

"So do I." Cody stalked down the next hallway, the group of Republic fighters splitting up to cover both corridors as they forked.

Obi-Wan's grip on his light-saber tightened. He let himself move beyond this point with the Force, trying to feel for any droid presence. There was something... but it was distant. Turning to Cody, Obi-Wan nodded. They were definitely up ahead. But there was something else... as though there were droids right beside them, though clearly there weren't.

Cody watched the walls, as though expecting a hidden door to open. The General was on edge - so was he, and so were the other men. There was something wrong, and he didn't have to be force-sensitive to sense it.

Obi-Wan could hear his heartbeat. He could hear the men around him breathing. It was too quiet. Too still. But it didn't stay that way.

Red blasts of energy flew from above them. Obi-Wan jerked back, avoiding the first several shots by mere inches. "They're above us!" Obi-Wan turned and looked up, igniting his light-saber and blocking several shots upward. They must somehow be in the ducts. "We need to move!"

"You heard him lads! Move!" Cody was yelling above the sound of gunfire. He aimed towards the ducts, shooting through the grates just as the droids were doing. The clankers would drop down. They still had a mission to finish. The Commander growled, dropping to a crouch as he pulled his pack off his shoulder, taking out one of the explosives. He attached it to the wall, pushing several of the buttons to activate it.

He hit his wrist-comm, "They're in the ducts!"

Obi-Wan and the others rushed for the door at the end of the hall. They were sitting ducks with no cover. With a grim expression, the Jedi forced the door open. "Go!" he ordered, blocking blaster-fire to cover the men.

Cody didn't fully stand before he began running. A blaster bolt hit the wall beside him, sparking as it did. He scowled and continued on.

Obi-Wan force-pushed a droid, propelling it back into several others. The droids were now coming down into the hall. Commando droids. He glared them down, tightening his grip on his light-saber and taking a calming breath. The coiled-spring sound of the droids' gears was easily audible. "Cody, plant the charges, I'll cover you!"

"Yes-sir!" The other charge exploded, causing the building to shudder. Some of the droids must have been destroyed by that, it would slow them down, at very least. He continued on into the command center, two of the other men running behind him.

Obi-Wan kept the droids occupied, knowing it would only take Cody and the others a few minutes. He dodged, blocked, and sliced droids in half, but they had more numbers. Still, he only had to hold them off a few more minutes... Obi-Wan cut down another droid. Its arm fell first, then its head. The droid fell to a heap at his feet...

Something landed beside him with the droid, beeping. With the sounds all around him, Obi-Wan failed to notice it. The red light blinked faster and faster... then it exploded.

Obi-Wan was slammed back against the wall. Everything was blinding white. Obi-Wan felt nothing for a moment, then searing pain. He could hear the shriek of the grenade ringing in his head... blocking out all other noises. He couldn't see the droids. Obi-Wan's sense was muddled... he was helpless. His hands were empty too. He'd dropped his light-saber.

In a last ditch effort, Obi-Wan put both arms out, as if to shield himself, called on the Force, and pushed it into the air with all his might. He could only hope the droids were pushed back. Obi-Wan was fighting blind and deaf, for the time being... Though his vision was slowly returning, it was a in a blurry haze.

Obi-Wan fell back against the wall... feeling the world spin beneath him.

Cody and the other three finished planting the charges. It was too late. He'd heard the explosion. They had to get out, before their own explosives went off. The Commander turned on his wrist comm, "Jackle, get out and contact Pylot - have him bring the gunship. We're leaving, now!"

"Yes, Commander," The reply crackled over the radio.

He started running, the others following after him. He stepped back into the hallway, looking for the General - he was on the floor, grenade fragments scattered across the floor. "Highjack, with me!"

The two made their way through what had become chaos. The droids had been knocked back by the General, and were now regaining ground, seeming to multiply in numbers. Cody came to a skidding halt beside Obi-Wan, wasting no time in pulling one of his arms over his shoulders. Highjack got his other arm. He shot at the Commando droids, trying to hold them back while they retreated back through the corridors.

He stopped. The Jedi's lightsaber was in the hallway, and the droids were nearly upon it. "Oh, haar'chak!" Cody spat, carefully moving Obi-Wan's arm off of his shoulders. "Highjack, get him out of here. I'm going back for the General's lightsaber."

"But sir!"

Cody ignored the comment and began running. He didn't need to look back to know Highjack was following orders.

He scrapped one of the droids with several shots to the neck, and it fell to the ground with a loud clanging. He slid to a halt, dropping and rolling to avoid the attacks of the coming wave. His hand reached for the familiar metal. His gloved hand tightened around it. He had already stood, hitting the ground at a run. His heartbeat raced, pounding inside of his head.

The door drew near (or he drew near to the door).

He counted the steps.

Twenty,

Nineteen,

Eighteen,

Seventeen,

Sixteen,

Fifteen...

He took a shot at one of the Commando droids.

Twelve,

Eleven,

Ten...

And another shot.

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One...

He practically leapt out of the open door. He could see the gunship lowering just a short ways away, blasting sand away from its hard surface.

Apparently, one of the Commando droids had followed him this far. He stopped rather abruptly, turning and at the same time igniting the blue, fiery blade. The clone sliced its head from its mechanical shoulders. Then he ran. They had planted enough explosives in there to cause a sinkhole in the soft ground when the outpost blew.

Lightsaber in one hand, blaster in the other, he continued onward. He reached the gunship, it was hovering some feet above the ground. A hand reached out and he holstered his blaster, gripping the outstretched limb. Hands hauled him inside.

The charges went off. The ground shook, red and orange engulfing the building. And just as he thought, the sinkhole began, sucking the outpost into what looked like the very depths of the planet.

"Where's the General!" He shouted above the sound, but their attention was momentarily drawn by the destruction below, "General Kenobi! Report, men!"

It was Jackle that replied. "It's bad, Commander."

"How bad?" Cody's voice lowered as he all but skulked forward, pushing the button that retracted the lightsaber.

"I'm not sure. He'll need to be transported to a medical facility."

Cody sighed. He stopped by Jackle's side, dropping into a crouch and rocking back onto his haunches. Obi-Wan's neck was covered in red, blistered skin, and his face had been badly bruised. And they hadn't even seen the damage done that was hidden underneath his layers of Jedi robes.

Cody attached the lightsaber to his belt. "Highjack, give me your pack. Ghost, get the med kit." He took the pack from Highjack and elevated the General's feet, at the same time looking for something to put under his head. "Get the shock blankets."

"Yes-sir."

The Commander sighed again, "We're in for the long ride, boys."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I believe there is... One more chapter. Thank you for your feedback and support!**

They would be reaching the Cruiser soon. Commander Cody had checked with the pilot before walking into the back again, "Status?"

"Unchanged," Jackle instantly replied.

"Not true, his breathing is more shallow - sir."

"Highjack, when did it get worse?" Cody kneeled by his side. The Jedi was cocooned in green shock-blankets, his legs elevated above his heart. He should have been getting better, not worse. Cody set his hand on Obi-Wan's forehead, and despite the glove, he could still feel the heat. It wasn't just shock anymore, then. He had a fever. The clone ground his teeth together.

"Do we have anything else to give him?"

"Not in the med kit."

"He'll be fine," Cody spoke half to himself, his voice a rumble as he repositioned the makeshift pillow beneath the General's head.

"What happened back there?" Lan spoke up for the first time, his arms crossed as he paced anxiously.

"We must have gotten bad intel," Jackle replied.

"What happened was we lost Dodge," Cody suddenly spoke, standing up, and despite all sharing the same height he seemed to loom over the others, "And we nearly lost General Kenobi." The others dropped into silence. Cody shook his head and crouched again. "We still accomplished the mission. You all did well, men."

Obi-Wan's eyes fluttered open. He stared up at the ceiling, blinking slowly. "Is it done?" he mumbled, barely on the edge of consciousness.

"Yes-sir. Try to move your hand, General." His arm had taken most of the damage, along with his chest area. Cody needed to know, he wanted to give the medics more information.

Obi-Wan stared as though he hadn't heard anything. The pause between words and silence was almost painful. He slowly moved his hand, smiling. "I'll be..." he blinked, "...fine. Good job."

Cody worked his helmet off and placed it on the floor beside him, setting a hand on the man's shoulder and giving a squeeze. "We're almost at the cruiser, sir."

Obi-Wan nodded groggily. His head was still buzzing from the explosion. Words sounded distant. The sound of the ship's engine was a constant reminder that they'd made it out. "Did everyone make it?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"We lost Dodge."

I'm sorry." Obi-Wan's expression was pained. He knew it was part of war... but that didn't change the fact that he truly was sorry.

"Me too." Cody didn't break eye contact, and he wouldn't as long as the man was conscious. Dodge had faced the fate that every clone expected for themselves.

Obi-Wan's eyes slid shut. He mumbled something along the lines of, "It's never what it should to be..." then slid into unconsciousness again.

"Commander, Pylot says we've reached the ship."

Cody closed his eyes for a moment before looking at the other man and giving him a curt nod. "We need to get him on board as soon as we arrive."

"Yes, Commander."

The gunship jolted slightly as it stopped in the hanger bay.

The doors opened with a familiar sound, and immediately, Anakin lunged forward. He passed by the clones and dropped to his knees beside Obi-Wan. "Master? Obi-Wan?" He frowned and shook his head, anger clouding his eyes. Chancellor Palpatine had needed him on Coruscant... Obi-Wan said everything would be fine. Anakin looked toward the clone commander. "What happened?"

"There were more droids inside the outpost than the intel suggested. General Kenobi was providing cover while we planted charges in the command center, he was injured then."

Anakin nodded slowly. "We need to get him to the med bay."

"Yes-sir. Lan, Highjack." The two men came forward, helping to move the Jedi Master.

Anakin watched the two walk away. With a nod to Cody, Anakin turned and followed after Lan and Highjack.


	5. Chapter 5

The beeping seemed to drone on for eternity. Cody let his head fall against his hand, his elbow resting on the chair arm. He had briefed the council only an hour ago, which had been five hours after they had arrived at the cruiser. Six hours in total. The first three, Obi-Wan had spent in surgery. Mostly reconstructive - the skin badly burned.

The Commander had only been there for the past hour, and in that time, the Jedi had still not woken. If he was another person, he would have spent the time telling himself it had been his fault; Obi-Wan had given him the lead, he was responsible for his men, and the Jedi. But there was hardly time to waste deciding who would take the blame for something that couldn't be changed.

He was tired. It was the middle of the night, and he hadn't eaten since the last ration bar before the mission. But for the moment, he was content waiting in the quiet medical bay.

At least until he knew that he hadn't...

No. No time to waste on that, he reminded himself.

The Jedi blinked awake. He could sense a hum in the Force—a presence. Obi-Wan stared through darkness. He could barely see the figure beside the bed, but he didn't need to see to know who it was. "Cody. You're up awfully late," he stated quietly.

"General?" The young clone's voice was relieved. "Late briefing, sir."

"Ah, yes..." Obi-Wan shifted, tugging at the hem of the medical blanket. "You did well, Cody," Obi-Wan stated after a short silence.

"So did you, sir." It was matter-of-fact. "Oh, by the way, I have your lightsaber. I can hold onto it for a while or give it to General Skywalker, sir?"

A look of shock dawned on his face. He'd completely forgotten that he'd dropped it. "Thank you. I'd forgotten... You could leave it in my quarters. It will be safe there—or it ought to be," he added wryly.

"Yes-sir."

"Oh... that reminds me." Obi-Wan reached on hand over to a small desk beside the bed. He pulled a glass bottle off it, and handed it to Cody.

"What is this for?" Cody said as he took it, fingers feeling the small bottle. He held it close to the light of the machinery. Soft, red sand. To say he was 'surprised' would have been an understatement.

Obi-Wan shrugged—hid a pained expression at the movement—then replied. "You seemed to like it."

"Thank you, General Kenobi." Cody clasped his hand around the small, glass bottle. "I was honoured to fight by your side today."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'm glad—because I believe we'll be seeing more of each other. I'm requesting the Council leave me with the 212th." He'd been temporarily assigned with them for this mission, but he'd found they were professional, and did their job well. More importantly, he trusted them.

Cody dipped his head in acknowledgement. "We won't let you down."

"I trust that you won't," Obi-Wan responded.

After a moment, Commander Cody stood. "I'll leave you to get some rest. If there's anything you need, I'll come back in the morning, sir."

"Thank you, Cody." Obi-Wan gave a slight wave. "Good night."

"'Night, sir."

 **A/N: Thank you all for your support, it was very much appreciated! And, this has come to a close, but I hope you enjoyed this short fic. God bless!**


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